Wow. Have you ever been knocked sideways by the kind gesture of another human being? Well, I have to say that I have been extremely lucky recently and have experienced just that. Well…not literally.

With the digital age and social media being the preferred method of communication these days it’s relatively rare to receive post at QVC. It’s always quite exciting when I do, to be honest.

I have been truly blessed to have received some incredibly kind gifts and cards in the post. Handmade scrapbooks of the cats, diaries, chocolates, flowers and artwork. I’m always extremely touched by the kindness shown to me by people who only know me as the girl who works in the shop on telly!

Toward the end of last year I was on air with one of my bestest of friends, Steven Corfield from Yankee Candle, when I mentioned how crazy I was about their Granny Smith scent and have been for years. Trust me, it would be something foodie. Can’t get enough of those foodie Yankee scents!

Anyway, Granny Smith isn’t that easy to get hold of these day,s and a very kind viewer sent a Granny Smith jar candle to me, saying she’d had it for a while now and thought I might like it. I LOVE it! What a massively kind thing to do! Not just the gift but the cost of sending it and effort to post it meant so much to me.

Well, many people know that I have long since lost a few of my marbles along the way and (I suppose, as a direct result of this) I have been pretty much building my own home around me for a while now. One thing I am very poor in is time. We’re all time poor, but this past couple of years have been the most demanding of my time ever! This makes me even more appreciative of the sacrifice made when people take time to be so kind and generous.

I try to keep the karma balance by doing things for others when I can. 99% of the time these are done very privately and certainly not live on QVC. A couple of months or so ago we had a brilliant Nails Inc Today’s Special Value offer on air and I received a tweet from a young lady who said she was suffering ill health and was enjoying the show but wouldn’t be buying as she couldn’t afford to right now.

I just felt that karma had presented me with an opportunity to help and told her to send me her details as I would like to treat her to the TSV. I knew that it wasn’t the purpose of her tweet but I wanted to do it for her.

I was trying to send her a message whilst live on air but it was difficult as I was obviously also presenting a show, so I just decided to tell her live. I must say that I did also make a little disclaimer asking people to understand I couldn’t do it for everyone but it was around Christmas and it felt right to do it for this lady.

I have been overwhelmed by the response I got for doing this. It was not something I had planned or expected to receive any recognition for. The Nails Inc team were touched, too and insisted they wanted to help, so they donated the TSV and I sent it out to her. She was thrilled! Mission accomplished!

The reason I mention this now is that a very kind lady with a heart of gold was prompted to get in touch with me because of my gesture. She wrote me a card full of heartwarming thanks and told me how she knew I’d been spending all my money on building our family home. She left no return address so I couldn’t thank her, but she also enclosed a generous cheque for me to treat myself to something “not to be spent on the house, something for you”.

I actually cried. What a thing to do. What a soul! I believe she deliberately left no means of contacting her so that I wouldn’t send the cheque back. Obviously, I tore the cheque up with the biggest smile on my face. Her thoughtfulness and generosity had bought me more than money could – nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors and I have shed many tears behind mine. The past year was pretty tough on many levels for me and this angel warmed me to the core.

I won’t reveal your name here (I imagine you wouldn’t want me to) but I desperately hope you read this and know that you did more than you can even know when you sent your gift and words to me. I’m sure you’ll take no offence over me not cashing your cheque but, my darling restorer of faith, you deserve it far more than I. I now insist that you buy something just for you and consider it a gift from me.

Thank you, again, to all of you sweet people who are so filled with goodness – it spills out of you and makes others feel amazing!

Wow… It’s lovely to hear that there are still some people with beautiful hearts out there. I always try to be nice to people but sometimes you feel people can take you for granted. What a lovely lady you are so you do deserve all of those lovely gestures.

Your blog has touched me immensely. I like to be kind and helpful, and not make a fuss. You are a truly kind person, and there are not many around these days. My best friend, who is no longer with me, and I miss her so much, was always so kind to everybody around her, and her personality shone like a star, reminds me of you. But I find that being kind doesn’t always pay off. I have a work colleague, who no matter what I try to do to assist her, it always backfires, because she is a truly selfish person, and I hate to say that about someone, and it may sound bitchy, but she makes working with her very stressful. So I try to just get on with my job, but I can assure you, its not easy. I just hope life treats you better from now on.
Look after yourself.
xx

Thanks for writing in. Yes, I understand what you are saying but in this instance I think the right thing to do was to give it back as a gift to her so that she could treat herself. I couldn’t directly send something so this was the next best thing. I just hope she gets to read this and realises she must now spend it on herself 🙂

I am so sorry to hear that you lost your dear friend. It’s sounds as though she has left a beautiful legacy of happy memories for you to hold onto, though. A special person indeed.

I feel for what you are going through at work. I was bullied a lot as a youngster and have found that many similar character traits still show up in adults. I’d like to think most of the selfishness of childhood nasties passes as people mature but a few slip through the net. I find it best to rise above and avoid, just as you’re doing. Gravitate toward those who make you feel good. Another good trick is to be positive with them no matter how negative they may be. Not in a way which gets you taken for granted but just smile in the face of it, wish them a great day and quickly move on. Don’t let their actions spoil your day.

I was raised to do what are now called ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ and as you say, Catherine – when you do something for a stranger, not only does it fill your heart it also means so much to the stranger.

I encourage everyone to do one RAofC every week: it doesn’t have to be money, it can be a little Notelet (which is what I use) with a message to someone – the Apprentice at the hair salon who gave you a lovely head massage as she washed your hair (ooooh) or the bus driver who treats people with such friendliness. Maybe we’ll change our cynical world, one step at a time.

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